Never Scared
by NY GE Pyromaniac
Summary: Language, rape and other things brought on the rating. Follows Pyro from the incident at Bobby's house until his drying day...R&R Tx! COMPLETE! FINALLY!
1. Bobby's House

**Never Scared**

**_John's POV  
_**  
We're at Bobby's house right now. He decided he needed to tell his mommy and daddy that he was a mutant. Big mistake if you ask me...BIG mistake. But no one ever does ask me so why should I even waste my breath trying to warn them of how real people react to you being a mutant. They're not all like the Professor: giving you a place to stay, giving you an education and feeding you so that you don't have to run the streets every night just so you can stay alive, and that's if you're lucky...you're really lucky if some psycho dude doesn't walks up to you, offering you a job to live off of, and then out of no where pulls out a gun and uses it to rape you at gun point.... Yeah, it's exactly what you're probably thinking...I was raped before I got to the Professor's place. Every night after that was hell because, now, I was meat on the market and every whacked out freak knew it.... I thank God everyday that he took me away from there, but why'd he have to stick me with this shit list of people? Ah well, beggars can't be choosers.  
"Have you tried...not being a mutant?"  
Are you fucking kidding me, lady? You gotta be fucking kidding me! '_Have you tried not being a mutant?_' What is this, Ignorant People Ask Stupid Questions Day? Fucking dumb ass bitch! No wonder Bobby hardly ever talked about them...they were a disgrace!  
Logan's phone rang, but it took him a while to answer it...probably still shocked at that stupid question....  
He went outside to answer it and Bobby's mom just stared at her son...well the one that stayed. Ronnie had gone upstairs as soon as Bobby decided to show off his power.... How come he gets to show off and I don't?  
"We gotta go. Now!"  
"Why? What's the matter?"  
That little shit called the cops! Fucker! I swear I'll make him rue the day humans decided mutants were dangerous.  
We ran outside onto the porch and, waiting out there for us, were armed cops.  
It all happened so fast: They gave us a warning, Logan showed them that he couldn't 'put the knives down', they shot him dead and then all of a sudden Bobby and Rogue were obeying their order to get on the floor.  
My breathing quickened and I instinctively pulled out my lighter.  
"Get down, Kid!"  
_ Click  
_ "We don't wanna hurt ya, kid!"  
Yeah, no shit, Sherlock! _Click  
_ "You know all those dangerous mutants you hear about on the news?"  
I took one last look at the young cops' fearful faces and unleashed my power upon them, relinquishing ever single hate I felt for those humans ever since the day my dad raped me in that alley for being who and what I was....  
".... I'm the worst one...." _FWOOSH!!!_  
  
End chapter one...what do you think? Good or bad? Should I continue? Constructive criticism is welcome...no flames. Thanks! 1, NY GE Pyromaniac


	2. Do You Always Do what you're Told?

Phoenyx: Glad u liked it. Here's chapter two...less swears than chap one ...btw...that was just to make it unmistakably clear that Pyro was pissed at humans and the people around him...anyways...glad u like it so here's chap two! Enjoy!

**Chapter two: _Do You Always Do what you're Told?_**

_**John's POV**_

**** They'd gone underground to find Stryker's lab. I was on the jet with Bobby and Rogue flicking my lighter trying to ignore the glances they were throwing me every now and then telling me exactly what they were thinking. _What did you do? Why did you do it? Are you gonna leave with Magneto now?_

Honestly, I didn't care anymore. I thought I did, but I didn't. I thought I had ruined whatever the professor had worked so hard for to help us mutants be able to walk the streets without having to be discriminated, but then at Bobby's house it was obvious that they don't care what the laws were as soon as they see that we actually have a brain and can protect ourselves because they need to keep themselves safe at any cause. No offense to the Professor or anything but his dream of mutants and humans one day getting along with one another is never going to come true if we keep this whole _peace_ thing up. I've seen over the last few days…let alone _years_…that humans and their government respond to any mutant violently. If we wanna talk they wanna kill…it's as simple as that and I know that the Professor is just trying to create a window of opportunity for us peacefully but it's never going to work unless you gather all those humans that don't want to kill us and start a protest…only problem is that there's only about a handful people who don't hate us and a handful of those who do to every inch of those who don't. We're outnumbered by hatred but not by power…. We're basically gods among them and that's why they fear us. They're trying to scare us into following their laws and their bull shit morals…. If they had morals they wouldn't be trying to pass that Act and they would execute people like Stryker and Bobby's mom. And what really irks me is that the Professor knows that we're so much stronger than them and yet he let's us get pushed around like pawns on a chessboard. He know that we can command them at any time to follow _our_ rules and _our_ Acts, and yet he does nothing to stop them from trying to control us except going to conferences and getting Jean to speak for us.

That's probably why I actually paid attention to what Magneto had to say earlier because he made a good point. I _am_ a god among insects and I _shouldn't_ let anyone tell me otherwise. He was actually the first person to ever say that to me. He could see my power and my worth and he complimented me on it…not like the Professor who was always trying to get me to hold back my power. Didn't he understand that my power wasn't given to _me_ of all people to be held back? Maybe not and that's probably why I never really got along with him…why I never saw things the way he did…. But Magneto…he understood where I was coming from…he understood my need for freedom and my hatred for fear of humans and my hatred of humans. He understood that I wasn't scared and that I'd never be. I was never scared of them. I always knew that I could kill them with a flick of my wrist if I wanted to. And Magneto understood that I wanted out of this whole _peace_ group. He knew I didn't like it and he also knew that, secretly, I always wondered how he got so…strong and righteous. And I bet he knew now that someday I was going to end up on his doorstep to join his team…I wasn't ever planning on staying with the Professor forever…who would? I mean, who in _my_ position would? It's just not feasible. I can't stand being held back; I can't stand living in fear of the humans when I can just smite them with my beloved fire and I can't stand fighting for our rights _peacefully_ when it's not working anymore!

_Just leave then…. Get up and leave…. It's not like they care about _you_ anymore. They probably never did. You were Bobby's proclaimed best friend but you were just basically the third wheel in his and Rogue's futile relationship…. Yeah, true. So just leave…. Yeah, just leave…. But where do I go? …. Magneto._

I nodded and flicked my lighter shut.

"That's it," I said, getting up and walking over to the control panel to lower the ramp.

"Where're you going?" asked Bobby as I grabbed one of the jackets and pulled it on.

"I'm sick of this kid's table shit, I'm going in there," I said fixing my collar and hearing a small gasp from Rogue before she said, "John, they told us to stay here!"

I scoffed and said, "Do you always do what you're told?"

They both stared at me in silence and I took that as a cue to exit the ship and step into the biting winter air of Alkali Lake. I pulled my jacket closer to me and walked on.

After a while of walking I felt bullet shoot through the back of my head and embed itself in my brain, painfully. What the hell was it? What was this pain that I suddenly felt? Jesus Christ, make it stop! Then it did. I'd collapsed onto the ground, grabbing my head in pain and when it stopped, I sat up in a puddle of water. The snow had melted around me…. Cool…I mean…hot.

I stood up and walked on until I found the ship that Mystique and Magneto had come on. They were about to leave when Mystique just glanced over to where I was standing and then looked at Magneto who also looked to where I was I standing. He stared at me for a minute with a proud smirk on his face and then waved me over. As soon as I was on board, we took off to his hide out.

_I wonder where that is._

End chapter two…. Review! Thanks! 1, NY GE Pyromaniac


	3. The Hideout

Crazy4Horses: true, I think so too...I love reading those types of fics because basically everything about Pyro is good.... Here's more...enjoy!

**Chapter three: _The Hideout_**

_**John's POV**_

Mags' hideout was the shit! It was a _mansion_…a _huge mansion_! I was expecting a rundown shack or an abandoned warehouse, but not a mansion. Man, this dude knows how to live. The place was at least four or five stories high and took up about two or three city blocks. The front door was made of oak and was about two times my height. When I stepped inside, I nearly dropped my Zippo from shock. His living quarters was a twenty by forty room that was furnished with leather couches and mahogany coffee tables in front of each of them. Each coffee table had a centerpiece, which was made entirely of crystal. Above hung a chandelier that was also made entirely of crystal. The sun shone through it causing little rainbows to reflect onto the mahogany walls. There was a warm looking fireplace straight across from the entrance and a fire was already crackling inside it warming the whole house.

"Your room is just down the hall, Pyro," said Magneto, pulling me away from the scene and walking me down the hall to a door that was engraved with words in a language that I did not understand. I stared at them for a while until Magneto said, "It means '_the one who wields power wields all…. Power is strength…strength is inner fire…fire is power…._' It's basically saying that power is what keeps the world spinning and fire is power…."

"Did you just now make this?"

"No, it's a real Latin inscription. I read it in a book once and it's been embedded in my head ever since, so when I had this place built, I made sure that at least one door on each floor was inscribed with it…. There are other sayings, like this one, that have made their mark in my head but this one is the one constant that I never forgot…. Enjoy, your new room, Pyro."

"Thanks," I said.

He nodded and walked away.

I stepped into the room and was greeted with the same sight as I saw in the living room except this time, instead of leather couches and coffee tables, there was a king-sized bed draped in fiery red sheets, a mahogany bedside table with a laptop, modem and printer on it, and a big screen TV…with a satellite connection and the same crystal chandelier that reflected rainbows. Curtains covered a window that opened to a porch right on the courtyard surrounded by trees and had a fountain right in the center. I took a deep breath and smiled as I jumped onto the bed and grabbed the remote control placed atop my pillow.

I turned the TV on and watched until I fell asleep.

The first week at this hideout was great. I felt freer than I had ever felt. Sure Magneto was a strong believer in discipline and that's why he had Mystique, who had become like a mother to me, teach me hand-to-hand combat just incase I lost my lighter in battle. I had just come back from training and had taken a shower. I turned the TV on and guess what the first thing I saw was. Military Scientist, William Stryker, was found dead and chained to a wall after water from the burst damn at Alkali Lake was drained and a thorough search was made for any casualties. He was only one among the many, which also included Jean.

_Damn…. Jean, I'm sorry. I know this isn't the scene you see for me but it's was best for me and I'm free here…. You understand right?_

I watched and saw that she had drowned…. Drowned? Why hadn't the X-men helped her? So much for standing united…can't even help your own teammates…. Nah, there had to be another explanation to it…. They'd never just let her die…Scott would die, too. Maybe, they tried but she being stubborn wouldn't let them.

_Yeah, that sounds about right. Stubborn Jean._

I switched the channels until I landed on a horror flick that had always been one of my favorites: "Carrie"

I was sucked into sleep after about an hour of watching the movie and could feel a dream coming on when and ear-shattering scream filled the air startled me so bad that I fell off the bed with a loud _thud_. I got up and ran out of the room and down the hall towards the scream that came from a room that I had found out earlier was Mystique's room. Magneto was already at the door and fumbling with the doorknob. He got the door open and we scrambled to get through the door first. We instantly regretted trying so hard to get in and I immediately felt sick at what was in front of me. Mystique was lying on the floor in a puddle of blood that was gushing from a wound in her chest…a three-holed wound.

_Wolverine!_

She coughed and sputtered blood, trying to say something. Instantly I was at her side holding her in my arms and trying to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn't stop. I had to face the inevitable…she was going to die. God, why? She was a good person, no matter what people thought. She was real maternal like with me and she was really a warm person once you got to know her.

"Johnny," she said softly, coughing blood onto my pure white shirt. I didn't care.

"Y-yeah," I said, suddenly realizing that tears were spilling from my eyes and were blurring my vision.

"Don't cry. I'll be here with you always…. Just do me one last favor," she said, smiling weakly and taking my hand in hers.

"Anything," I said, trying to keep her alive, though I knew it was to no avail.

"Kill the bastard that did this to me…. Kill Wolverine…and tell him…."

"Yeah?"

"Tell him I loved-," were her last words before her head fell back and whatever life was left in her left her body.

Shaking with anger and silent tears, I let go of her and screamed at the top of my lungs, "**_WOLVERINE, YOU FUCK! I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU! I SWEAR IT! I WILL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD! YOU'RE GONNA BURN IN HELL FOR THIS!_**" I turned to Magneto who was looking at me with a look of sympathy and hurt at the same time and telling me with his eyes that Wolverine most likely didn't hear me…he'd escaped. I shook my head and said, "I don't care. I _will_ kill him…. If it's the last thing I do, I _will_ kill him. I will make him suffer, too."

He nodded, knowing that it probably would be the last thing I do because of Wolverine's healing power, but I didn't care. Someway, somehow I was going to kill him.

"Come, Pyro. Go and rest…. You've had a long day."

I nodded and walked towards the door but stopped and asked, "Why did he do it?"

"…. For the same reason humans kill mutants…she was just more powerful than he was and now that you're with us he sees us as a threat so he got rid of one of the most experienced members so we'll have a hard time regrouping."

I nodded and went to my room to sleep, but couldn't.

Mystique loved that man…and he killed her. God, when did it become mutant against mutant? This just goes to show you that even those who say they want peace don't want anything to do with it. Now it's a battle of the bands…. Who makes the humans respect us first? We'll just have to wait and see. Hatred brewed inside of me and burned my insides…and it didn't hurt…it felt good. I was going to kill Wolverine for Mystique. If the Brotherhood has to lose someone the so do the X-men.

_They lost Jean…. So what? …. That means nothing now._

If Mystique loved Wolverine and he knew it…then why didn't he react to it the way he should've? What, now everyone you love is going to try and kill you? If that's the case, then I want nothing to do with love anymore….

I brewed in anger for a few more hours until, finally, I fell asleep, dreaming of the day Wolverine would be six feet underground and maggot food.


	4. Brotherhood of Evil Mutants II

Ronnie's Fan: Glad you're liking this. Yeah, I noticed that people weren't touching on that side of him and I guess it's because some may think it makes him look like he has too much of a conscience when in the comics and cartoons he's insane but I tried to stray a little, but not to far, from what Stan Lee made of Pyro. It's not the end for another few chapters, so just keep reading and reviewing and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoyed the last one. Bye!

Raven: Yep, he's pissed. Nope, not good for Logan and if you keep reading until the end I thing you'll see I justified how it should end....I dunno though, just keep reading and reviewing. :) Bye!

**Chapter four: _Brotherhood of Evil Mutants II_**

_**John's POV**_

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to say goodbye to Raven 'Mystique' Darkholm. She was a lovely woman…."

I stood there, clad completely in black, and understanding for the first time why people always wear black to funerals…because it reflects how they feel inside. I felt completely empty inside. I stared at the coffin that held Mystique and wondered what she was doing right now, this very moment up there. Probably watching over us right now, smirking at how much injustice the homily did her. She was fun like that.

I know it's strange how I got to know Magneto and Mystique better than most people did with only one week of living with them, but it's true. I did know them a lot better than even the Professor knew them…. He always spoke of them as some poor souls that needed finding. Stupid Professor.

Once the funeral was over and Mystique was buried, Magneto and I walked over to pay our last respects.

"Mystique, my dearest, I'm sorry. We should've gotten there quicker…we shouldn't have delayed. But you're in a better place now and all I can do is pray that you are at your happiest there. May the Good Lord, His son, and Mother watch over you. I'll be back to see you again soon…. Here's Pyro," Magneto said, with some difficulty but managing not to burst out in tears.

I walked to her tombstone and stared for a minute before saying, "Hey, Mystique. How's is going up there? I'm really sorry for what happened and Mags is right, we shouldn't have delayed but I promise that no matter what it takes, I _will_ make Logan pay…I swear it right here on your grave that he _will_ regret ever having met me let alone murdering you…. I _swear_ it." My voice began shaking with anger and my insides burned again so I finished off with, "May God watch over you always and see how good an angel you are. He's right to have chosen you to be up there with Him…. (It got really cloudy really quick and it started pouring down bullets of rain) Don't cry 'cause it's not 'goodbye', Mystique, even though it was in the sermon…. It's just…'see ya later'. I'll be back here soon, …I promise." Just as I finished saying that, it stopped raining and cleared up. I stood up and walked away from the grave with Magneto on my heels.

Once we were out of the cemetery, we just crossed the road and walked across the front yard and into our house.

I went straight to my room and collapsed onto the bed, still dressed in my clack jeans and top and sneakers. I shivered slightly and decided I better change before I caught pneumonia. I walked over to the drawer and sifted through it to find something warm…. It was freezing in the house. Once I did find something, I shed my other clothes and put the dry clothes on and lay back down to sleep.

A week had passes since the funeral and things were still kind of lonely but getting along fine. I was in the kitchen, eating cereal when Mags came in and said, "Hurry up and finish that so we can get a move on."

The spoon was halfway to my mouth when I asked, "Get a move on what?"

"Finding Toad and Sabertooth and a few more mutants that I've researched and now know that they are tired of their life style so we'll be picking them up."

"Oh," was all I said and then continued eating my cereal.

Half an hour later we were on his jet and flying over East New York and looking for a building that didn't accentuate the fact that it had a ship on top of it and once we did, we jumped off and climbed down the fire escapes to the ground.

We were supposed to be finding the newest recruits first so that they could help us break Toad and Sabertooth out of their specialized prison cells in Upstate New York.

Walking down the cracked block and looking for any hoodlums that looked…different…from the others, I kept clicking my lighter open and shut out of habit and trying to keep from setting something on fire.

"What are these kids' names again?" I asked Mags as we looked down a dark alley, where a loud _crash_ had come from a second ago.

"Their aliases are Avalanche, Blob, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver…. They've never met each other nor ourselves so be careful…especially Quicksilver," he said, looking down another alley and stopping.

"He's dangerous?"

"Yeah, …it was in his school file…. He was expelled from his previous school for sticking up the school for a pack of Laffy Taffies…. How he did that with a speed mutation, I will never know and that's a good thing."

I nodded and looked down the alley as well and saw this weird, silver blur moving from spot to spot with such quickness that I had trouble even convincing myself that it was there.

"And there he is," said Magneto, smirking with pride.

I had a strange feeling that Mags knew more about Quicksilver than he was letting on. He probably knew at least two of them and they had to at least know each other because there's a two out of three probability that they knew each other…it's just the way it is. Like back at the institute, half the kids there used to live at my orphanage.

I stared at the blur for a while before it stopped right in front of us to show that it was a teenage kid about my age, maybe a little younger, with pure white hair and an albino look to him…except he didn't have red eyes. The kid was real fit and was wearing a black shirt with three quarter sleeves and a pair of faded denim jeans. He had this hyped up look on his face…he was either high or had too much candy.

"Pietro Maximoff?" asked Magneto.

"What'sittoya?" said the kid, quickly moving his head so that he was face to face with Mags in a split second.

"Huh? Slow down, would ya?"

He swiveled his head quickly to me, eyes wide and crazed and said in the slowest tone ever, "What's…it…to…ya?"

I sneered at him and Mags said, "We're here to take you in."

"Whatd'youmean?" he asked.

I sucked my teeth and he said, "I mean, what…d'you…mean?"

"You're a mutant, am I right?" Mags asked.

"Yeah, and?" the kid said, finally speaking normally. He looked at Magneto strangely as he spoke…like he was trying to figure out where he had seen him before.

"Well, so am I and so is he," he said, pointing himself and myself in turn.

The kid nodded and said, "So, what's your point?"

"My point is that instead of causing mayhem among humans alone, you can come with us and cause way worse damage in their systems and governments."

"What'sinitforme? Sorry, I mean, what's…in…it…for…me?"

"Ruling over the humans alongside me," said Mags with a smirk.

The kid got a smirk on his face too and said, "Yeah, okay, I see where you're going…. But I'll go with you on only one condition."

"And what is that, my dear boy?"

"That's exactly what I want."

"Huh?" I said.

"To be his dear boy. Dad, you can't hide it anymore…. Does he know?" he asked gesturing to me.

"No," I said, looking between him and Mags. "What're you talking about? Mags, is this your son?"

"Yes…." He turned to me and said, "Yes he is. And Scarlet Witch is his twin sister…."

"…. Oh…. So you have kids? That's…cool…strange, but cool."

"Why'sitstrange?"

It took me a while before I figured out what he said and then I said, "Exactly how long have you been running the streets?"

"About ten years," said the kid.

"The you haven't seen the things he's done to people…. But then again, I guess you could assume he had kids…always worries about me," I said.

"Ah, I see…. Well, Dad, you've never been the one to just go out one day and find one of his kids (he paused for a second to take in what he said and chuckle lightly), so what is it that you need me for."

"I need you and three others, including your sister, to join my team and help show the humans why they need to respect us…and if they still don't know why after we show them…then we'll just have to get physical."

The kid nodded then stopped and said, "Wait! Wanda? You gotta be fucking kidding me! Wanda hates you, Dad! If she could've she would've killed you right there on the spot at Bellevue!"

"I don't care. I need her and she needs me to get her out of there, so she'll be smart enough to at least wait until she's out of there before she kills me."

Quicksilver nodded apprehensively and said nothing after that.

"Now, let's go."

We both nodded and followed Magneto down the block and into a ten story apartment building that looked like a good kick could take it down. We walked up the stairs and stopped at a fifth floor apartment labeled E8 and knocked on the door.

A few seconds later, a boy, once again about my age, with brown, messy hair answered the door and asked, "Yeah? Whaddya want?"

"Dominic Szilard Janos Petro?" asked Magneto, never faltering in pronouncing the name. (A/N: I say that because I had trouble pronouncing it too…and I don't even know if I am pronouncing it right.)

He looked at Magneto incredulously and said, "Yeah…. How'd you know?"

"Never mind that…. You go by the alias: Avalanche, no?"

He nodded.

"My name is Eric Lehnsherr…but you can call me Magneto."

"Hey, how come you didn't introduce yourself to me?" whined Pietro.

"Because you already knew who I was…. Anyway, Avalanche, are you interested in joining a team that doesn't stand for humans treating us mutants badly instead of running the streets by yourself and having to worry about someday being caught and then beaten to a pulp…even with your mutation?"

"How d'you know I'm a mutant?"

"You've spent many a angry nights here, have you not?"

"Yeah."

"The building shows it…. It looks like it's about to fall apart."

He smiled sheepishly and said, "Yeah…. So, you guys are a group? A team?"

"Yes."

"And you do what exactly?"

"Well, we look for ways to make it clear to humans that you don't mess with us, the legal way first, though and then if that doesn't work, we take matters into our own hands…literally."

He smirked and stepped out of the apartment, shutting the door behind him. "Where do I sign up?"

Magneto smirked and said, "We have to find one more mutant out here before we go to Bellevue and get my daughter out."

"What? Sh-she ain't dangerous or nothing, right?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"On whether or not she sees you as a threat."

He gulped and nodded as he followed us out of the building and up the block, back to the building where we hid the jet. We got on the jet and played Poker as Magneto flew to this field somewhere down South, where a carnival was being held.

"Mags?" I asked as we entered one of the tents in which there was this huge guy moving boxes around and mumbling something about small freaks.

"What?"

"What're we doing here?"

"Looking for him," he said pointing to the huge guy.

"Oh," I said, watching the guy turn around at the sound of our voices and tower completely over us. I stared wide-eyed at him and quickly looked for an excuse to leave and avoid being crushed. One came to mind quickly. "Mags, I'm gonna get some cotton candy. I'll be right back." I turned to leave when Quicksilver sped over to me, turned me to face him and asked, "Where're you going?" I sneered at him and snatched out of his grip to turn back to the huge guy.

"Fred J. Duke?" asked Mags.

Fred nodded and said, "Yeah, and you are?"

"Eric Lehnsherr, but you can call me Magneto. What's your Alias?" he asked, obviously trying to be nice to him as to not set off his temper and get squashed.

"Blob," he said simply.

"Well, Blob, …" the conversation went exactly the same way it did at Avalanche's, more or less. A few changes here or there about people making fun of him outside the carnival and once he joined our team he would be able to put a stop to that. In the end, he joined and now we were on our way back to the ship.

"I bet you thirty bucks he breaks the ship down as soon as he steps on," whispered Avalanche to Pietro and I as we made our way back towards the hidden cornfield the ship was hidden in.

I rolled my eyes and walked ahead with Magneto and Blob who were talking about Magneto's past.

"I was separated from my mother in 1942, during the Holocaust."

"What's that?" asked Fred.

"The killing of millions of European Jews and others by the Nazis during WWII," I said, causing them to both face me and give me 'how-did-you-know-that?' looks. "Scott made me study it one day all day for a test…which I passed."

Magneto said, "Oh, I see."

"But I don't really know exactly what happened because Scott thought it inapt to be studying such a thing at such a young age…. Dumb ass."

"Yes," said Magneto.

"Will you tell me more about this 'Holocaust' thing?"

"Of course. You too, John. You seem interested."

"I am," I said, pushing aside the stalks of corn as we walked through the field, ignoring the snickers coming from Pietro and Avalanche behind us.

Once we arrived at the ship, Pietro was richer by thirty bucks because he bet against Fred breaking the ship down.

We flew to Bellevue Hospital next and snuck in using Quicksilver's speed mutation.

"You're pretty light for a dude," he said, putting me down on the linoleum floor of the hospital.

I stuck my tongue out at him and followed Mags as he walked over to a map on the wall. He traced down a list of sections and what floors they were on with his index finger until he stopped on the 'Psychiatric Help Ward', which was on the floor above us.

"Let's go," Mags said, waving us towards a door that led to a staircase.

We walked up the stares quietly and once we got to the next landing, we went through the door one by one so as to not attract any attention.

"What room is she in, Mags?" I asked as we walked down the hall looking next to doors for the patients' names.

"This one," he said stopping at a door across the one I was looking at.

He tried to turn the doorknob, but it was locked, so I walked over, clicked my lighter open and called the flame to my palm. I melted the knob away and then pushed the little button that clicked the lock open.

Mags looked at me questioningly and I said, "Same lock that was on my door at my orphanage."

"Oh," he said pushing the door open and walking in.

We followed him inside and Quicksilver switched on the light and sped over to a limp form on the floor, which was now in Pietro's arms trying to break free of his hold and the straight jacket around her.

"Wanda, calm down! We're trying to get you out!" he whispered frantically.

The girl continued to thrash against his chest, but he still wouldn't let go.

"If you stay still, I can get the jacket off you!" he whispered in her ear causing her to calm down long enough for him to loosen the straps of the jacket enough for her to start using her mutation on him.

Once I saw her mutation, I knew why they called her Scarlet Witch.

Her hands slipped out from the jacket and formed into a claw-like shape…then they started glowing red. She screamed angrily and a stream of red and black lightning shot from her hands and towards Pietro, surrounding him quickly and causing him to twitch as she bewitched him to stand up straight and walked towards Magneto to slap him repeatedly.

The girl was standing up straight now and her hands were still up in the air, controlling Pietro.

"Wanda, please stop! I need your help," said Magneto.

"You should've thought of that ten years ago when you put me in here!" she yelled over Pietro's screams of pain.

"Wanda, please, just hear me out and then you can do what you want to me," Magneto said, his head swinging from side to side with every slap.

Wanda seemed to be in thought before she let her hands fall to her side but still maintain control over Pietro.

"Thank you…. Wanda, I'm sorry I had to put you in here, but you must understand that you were out of control," said Magneto, with a pleading look on his face as he spoke to Wanda.

She rolled her eyes as he continued, "Look, I'm breaking you out today and you're never coming back here, but I need your help tonight with something…."

"What is it?" she asked trying to sound as though she wasn't interested but had a crease in her forehead to show that she was listening intently.

"I need you to help me get some of my old team members out of high security prisons in Westchester," he said.

"What's in it for me?"

"A spot on my team and my eternal regret for putting you in here…. You know, I did try everything I could to help you control the power you have before I put you in here, but you were just too angry and out of control."

She scowled and said, "You should've tried harder!"

"I know…."

"…. Well, okay, I'll help you and since I have nowhere else to go I guess I _have_ to join your team."

"I do hope you can forgive me…. No father wants to put his little girl in a mental institution."

"The why did you?"

Magneto hung his head in sorrow.

She had every right to be angry…. My parents may not have put in one these places but they _did_ put me up for adoption as soon as they found out I was a mutant.

She sighed and said, "Look, it's gonna take some time, but I think I ca forgive you…it'll be hard but I think I can…(her hands twitched and Pietro was bent over backward about to break his back and she realized what she was doing so she release him of her control), but can you need to get some kind of help for me…for _this_."

Magneto nodded and she smiled.

"Right, let's go. We need to get Toad and Sabertooth out of there," he said, taking Wanda's hand and walking out of the room as Pietro stood up straight causing his back to give a loud _crack!_

We followed Magneto out of the building, quietly with Wanda, who now tat I looked at her carefully didn't look that bad. She had scarlet/black hair and a tan complexion that was quite the opposite of Pietro…you'd never be able to tell they were twins.

We got on the ship and flew for about half an hour to Westchester and the hopped off.

I was getting tired of doing this.

Magneto looked at the building where Toad and Sabertooth were being held and said, "We need a diversion…. Avalanche, you cause an earthquake strong enough to make people fall out of the building but weak so it doesn't collapse. Quicksilver, you catch the falling people and bring them to Fred who will show them the way out of the fallen ruble. Scarlet Witch, you float Pyro and I up to the tenth story window and wait until we're at the window again so you can float all of us back down."

We all nodded and three seconds later, Avalanche was causing an earthquake and people were being caught by Pietro while Mags and I were floated up to the tenth story window by Wanda. Once Mags and I were inside Mags said, "Toad's in the call down the hall to your right."

I nodded and set off down the hall and turned right to come face to face with metal prison bars and Security guards that were holding on to them so they wouldn't somehow stray over to the window right in front of them and fall out. I looked to my right for any means to knock them out and saw an electric tazer. I picked it up and shocked the two guards before they even noticed that I was there.

Smirking, I looked into the cell and saw that in one of the corners was Toad, crouching and eyes glinting eerily in the dark.

"Come to stare at the ugly Toad, eh?" he asked in his Australian accent.

"No, I've come to break you out," I said, pulling out my lighter and calling the flame to my palm. I enlarged the flame so that it reached across all the bars of the cells and burned twice as much in half the time. The bars had melted away in about five minutes and toad was leaping behind me as I went to meet Magneto, who had freed Sabertooth and was now standing at the window signaling Wanda to float us down.

Sabertooth went first, almost being dropped because of a piece of the building that almost hit Wanda. Next was Toad, who had opted for jumping down now that he was free and wanted to try it. Then it was Mags, who I was afraid she'd drop because of hatred for him and last was me. I had a comfortable float back down and she smiled at me when I landed in front of her. I smiled back and then walked over to Magneto, who was now calling Quicksilver, Fred and Avalanche away from the scene.

We ran down the block and to this abandoned parking lot where we had parked the ship and onto the ship to fly back home.

We flew back to the house and on the way there we played Bull Shit. We arrived at the mansion in an hour's time and walked in and into the living room, where we sat down and discussed what we would call our group.

We'd spent half an hour arguing over names that sounded stupider than anything else and I, finally having enough, said over their voices, "Why not just call ourselves the **_Brotherhood of Evil Mutants II_**?"

Everything went quiet and then uproar of approval sounded and then Magneto said, "Okay, okay. Now, we've got a name; so get to bed all of you. We have a long day tomorrow."

"Yes, sir," we chorused

I went to my room to change into my sleepwear and watch some TV before going to sleep as Mags showed the others to their rooms.

End of chapter four. Hope you enjoyed it. Please Review


	5. Love and Hate

**Chapter five: _Love and Hate_**

**_John's POV_**

"Come on! Pump those legs, people! That track isn't going to run itself! Let's go!" yelled Magneto over our exhausted pants from running approximately a mile and a half on the track (courtyard edge).

It was never really hard for me to run, I could sure as hell do that well enough. When you grow up stealing out of trash bins and stores' back lots to live you learn really quickly the right way to run and how to become as aerodynamic as possible for speed. But this specific run was a little on the hectic side because Fred was right next to me and with every other step he took my balance was challenged.

Wanda was on the other side of him and was doing fairly well...in other words she wasn't struggling to stay up and running with every other one of Fred's footfalls.

She looked over at me as I flailed my arms around, trying to stay up as Fred's left foot hit the ground, and smirked slightly at the sight but turned away when she saw that I was looking at her.

I smiled and pushed harder to run faster and get ahead of Fred. I did and soon I was finished with the two miles Mags wanted us to run. Wanda finished directly after me and walked with me towards the benches on the side to catch our breath. Pietro was already there. He had used his mutation...lucky son of a bitch. I smirked and sat down next to Wanda.

"How could you keep such well balance running next to Fred?" I asked her, still panting and grabbing the bottle of water at my feet.

"We used to live in Romania before we came here and we lived in a rocky place, so I'm used to bumps in the road," she answered as I drank deeply from the bottle and then sprayed myself with it. She had a slight accent, which I assumed was Romanian, and it suited her well. It went along with her features if that doesn't sound too stupid.

I smiled at the thought and she smiled back before turning to her brother and saying something in Romanian that caused him to look at her, wild eyed, and repeat what she said in a mocking tone, which received a slap in the arm and a "Shut up!" from Wanda.

Pietro smirked and responded to her in Romanian, which also received a slap from Wanda, and sped off.

Wanda turned to me, blushing slightly and laughing lightly. "My brother is so stupid sometimes."

I tilted my head to the right and asked, "What did he say?"

"I told him that I needed to talk to you and asked him if he could give us some privacy and he took it the wrong way and said that I was going to ask you out. Then he said that he didn't mind as long as I didn't end up pregnant like a street whore."

I laughed along with her and when the laughter died down an uncomfortable silence was left in the air.

Did she think of me like that? I sure as hell thought of her like that...even though I didn't want to. Not because she was Magneto's daughter, I could probably convince him to let me date his daughter in a minute with my charm, but it was that little phobia I had of love now...ever since the day Mystique died.... I was still kind of healing from that. She loved him and then he killed her. Why? I still didn't know, but that wasn't going to stop me from fulfilling what I promised.... I really shouldn't let what happened to Mystique cripple my love life.... Besides, Wanda wasn't Wolverine and _I_ sure as hell wasn't him so I doubt we'd kill each other....

"_Do_ you...want to go out?" I asked her as she stared at me.

She bit her bottom lip and said, "Father-."

I cut her off and said, "Don't worry about him. I'll take care of that."

She smiled and said, "Then yes, I would love to go out with you."

I smiled back and said, "So, how does Friday at around nine sound?"

She nodded and said, "Perfect. I'll see you then," and then got up and walked over to where Pietro had run.

They exchanged a few words and I guess Pietro said something stupid again because she slapped him upside his head this time.

I laughed and got up to go inside.

Smirking all the way, I made my way to my room and into the shower.

* * *

Friday night came and went in a flash. We'd gone to see a movie and then went to this little pizzeria down the block to eat and talk about the movie.

"I thought it was a good movie. It was so romantic and cute."

I made a face and said, "Ach, _too_ cute! The guy went to find her in a flower shop and brought her flowers! What the hell is that?"

"Oh, so you don't like romantic and cute gestures?"

"No, I'm fine with romantic gestures, and cute gestures don't really appeal to me but I'll do one every now and then, but that guy was way too mushy."

She smirked and said, "Really? You like doing romantic things?"

I knew where she was headed with this so I went on. "Yeah, I like keeping my girls happy."

Her eyes were half lidded now and draped with lust. "What's the most romantic thing you've done for a woman or experienced with a woman?"

I closed my eyes, reminiscing about that one night I spent with the science teacher at the institute: Ms. Munroe a.k.a. Storm.

_It had been a very bad month for both of us. I was still failing every class, and starting fights for no reason and if I didn't straighten up and fly right, the Professor said he'd make me go to a child psychiatrist. So I decided to get extra credit work from each of the teachers and when I asked Storm if she could give me any, she just looked at me sadly, nodded and offered to tutor me in her subject as well.... I accepted._

_She'd been in a funk for the last three weeks and was getting more depressed by the second. Her last boyfriend had dumped her for this twenty-year-old model he'd met in the city and, as if that wasn't enough to break her heart, he told her that he never even wanted her, he just wanted sex and _that_ wasn't even good. This tore her down completely and she spent the weeks crying her self to sleep and coming to class late and tired looking. Everyday that I saw her, my heart wrenched in pain and I couldn't even stand to look at her. She'd always been the nicest of the teachers to me._

_Well, one night, while I was finishing off the report she wanted me to do on mitosis, she walked into the living room and asked, "Almost done?"_

"_Yeah. Just the conclusion left...." I wrote down my conclusion and then put the papers and pen down on the coffee table._

_I looked at her sad face as she smiled weakly and said, "Good."_

_I could no longer stand to see her so sad, so after classes had finished, I went to the courtyard and asked the gardener to trim some roses off for me to give to Storm. Thinking that I was just another student who had a crush on the beauty queen, he asked no questions and sliced off a bouquet of red, white, and pink roses and wrapped them up and handed them to me._

_I smiled back at her and, from behind my back, pulled out the bouquet and handed them to her._

_Her face lit up as she asked, "For me?"_

_I nodded and she took them gently from me and brought them to her nose. _

"_Mmmm.... I love them, Johnny. Thank you."_

"_You're welcome."_

"_What're they for?"_

"_I just wanted to see you happy again and I thought that maybe these would cheer you up a little."_

_She smiled and leaned in to kiss my cheek, but stopped for a second to look me in the eyes and then moved for my lips._

_I felt a slight electric shock on my lips and throughout my body when she did so and I couldn't help but deepen the kiss. Her soft, full lips parted and my tongue began to explore her mouth...sliding along her tongue and intertwining with it._

_She moved only to put the bouquet aside and lay me against the arm of the couch we were on. Not once did she let go of my lips and soon I had her on her back and began nuzzling her neck, sliding my tongue on her smooth, caramel colored skin. She tasted good and I continued licking her neck, causing moans to escape her lips._

_She pulled me up slightly to kiss me again and start unbuttoning my over shirt. When she finished, I pulled it off and bent down to unbutton her blouse and pull it off. She lay there, breathing heavily and pulling at my belt buckle, her white hair surrounding her head like a halo. _

_I kissed her and then trailed kisses from her lips to her collarbone and to her cleavage._

_She'd gotten my belt off and was now pulling of my undershirt. Her fingers ran lightly across my chest and up to my shoulders, gripping them and pulling me down to her mouth. _

_Soon all our clothes lay in a pile on the floor and our bodies were a mesh on the sofa, panting and moaning lightly as to not wake anyone up. _

_When I awoke early the next morning, she was already dressed and sitting next to me on the sofa._

_She smiled and said, "Thank you."_

_I smiled back and said, "No problem." As I sat up, I flinched slightly at the stinging sensation on my back and shoulders, and pulled on my clothes._

"_Sorry about that. Couldn't help it."_

"_Don't worry about it. Actually, it's a very good sign," I said, buckling my belt and pulling on my sneakers._

_She giggled girlishly and then stopped and said, "John."_

_I knew what was coming next. No one could know about this...even though I would bet my lighter that the Professor already knew. I had no problem with that. Last night wasn't supposed to happen like that, but I didn't regret it at all, so I had no problem keeping it a guilt free secret between the two of us._

"_I know...." I sat down next to her, kissed her gently again and said, "I know."_

_She smiled and said, "Thanks."_

_I smiled back and nodded. _

_She helped me gather my things off the coffee table and then organize it._

_From then on, things went as usual but we always knew that the other probably would've never made it passed that month had it not been for that night._

"I don't think you wanna know," I said, opening my eyes and smirking slightly at Wanda.

She smiled and said, "Okay, whatever you say. But, be warned, I'll get you to tell me one way or another."

I laughed and we continued talking about the movie and eating our pizza.

When we got home, Mags was waiting up for us and gave me a scowl so horrible that I was near scared of him but smirked to play it off.

"It's only-whoa! I see what you mean," I said, looking at my watch and noticing that it was three in the morning. "I'll get her to bed, sir. G'night."

We walked to her room and said 'goodnight' at the door, and before I left, I kissed her and asked her to go steady with me.

She said 'yes' and that made my night.

That night, I went to sleep with a smile on my face.

* * *

A month had passed since Wanda and I got together and everything was going great. Magneto had yelled a lot when he found out but then he had some time to think about it, he didn't mind so much. He actually took me into his lab one day, about a week or two into my relationship with Wanda, and had me tested for HIV.... It came back negative. Then he smiled and sent me off.

One day I was in the game room with Wanda, playing air hockey, and Magneto came in with Pietro at his side and looking very angry.

"Your friends are here."

"Huh?"

"The X-men are here!"

"Shit!" Wanda and I said in unison and abandoned our game to follow Magneto out of the room and into the corridor where Avalanche and Blob awaited us so that we could get to where the X-men were. Toad and Sabertooth had gone off somewhere without telling Magneto and I bet they'd be paying for it later.

"Why are they here?" I asked, running alongside Magneto towards the back door.

"They're here for you.... They want you to go back to them."

"Oh," was all I said as we made our way through the back door and into the back lot.

The X-men were there, standing in a horizontal line and looking at each of us with sympathy.

_Oh, don't give me that bullshit!_

I spotted Bobby and Rogue next to each other at the right end of the line and stared at them for a while.

"What do you want?" I asked, scowling at them.

"John," Rogue started, "We miss you.... Come back home."

I sneered at her and spat, "This _is_ my home. The institute was just a sort of checkpoint for me...no real big deal. No one there cared about me and visa versa."

There was a sudden crack of lightning and I looked at Storm, who was giving me a nasty look.

I shrugged.

"That's not true, John. We _all_ cared about you; you were just too stubborn to notice it. Why do you think we never wanted you to use your gift in public? It would've gotten you caught and turned in."

"Liar! You just didn't want to let he world know about our little secret and get deported or something!"

"No, John. That's not true.... We want you to come back," said Bobby.

"After nearly two months?! What hell kind of bullshit is that? If you really gave a shit about me, you'd have come sooner...not that I would go with you...."

"So, you're not coming?"

"_Hell no!_ _Especially _not after what _he_ did!" I yelled, pointing at Wolverine, who growled at me.

I sneered back and continued. "Do you know what he did, Professor? Yeah, I bet you do. I bet you sent him to do it! Neither of you liked Mystique so you just decided 'Hmm, I think I'll just get Wolverine, the man she loves, to kill her.... Yeah, and then John will come back!' Well, guess again, fuckers! I ain't coming back and you can't make me," I said and turned back towards the door.

I took one step and suddenly my legs became stiff and cold. I looked down and saw that my legs had been frozen by none other than-.

"Drake! What the hell is up with you?" I yelled pulling out my lighter and pulling a flame to melt the ice. I turned back, another fireball ready for him, and said, "So, you wanna play like that now, huh? Okay, that's fine by me!" I expanded the fireball and launched it at him but he froze it midair and it crashed to the ground.

Already, there was another fireball in my hand I was working on more.

This had turned into an all out mutant against mutant battle: Me versus Iceman, Wanda versus Rogue, Pietro versus Kitty, Avalanche versus Jubilee, Blob versus Cyclops, and Magneto versus Wolverine. Storm and the Professor stood to one side and watched the battle.

I looked at Storm for a split second and she had hurt look on her face but soon replaced it with a smirk and then showed me her left hand, which had a wedding ring on it. I nodded and smiled slightly at her, mouthing 'Good for you'. I turned back to Bobby and dodged his iced fist as I pulled more fire from my lighter and, in a sputtering form, engulfed him in it. But I was too slow. He'd already summoned a thick sheet of ice and was using it as a shield.

I melted the shield and received a frozen fist in the face. I recovered quickly and used what was left of the fire I held in my hand to expand it to twice Bobby's height and, before he even knew what was happening, covered him in it.

His screams filled the air and everyone stopped either in mid punch, mid half Nelson, mid kick, or mid strangles to look at his struggling form on the ground. He was rolling side to side, trying to put out the flame, but I kept it alive and burning hotter than normal to make him suffer.

When I felt he'd had enough, I let the flames die down and bent over his charred form and whispered, "Don't fuck with me, Drake, you'll get burned," and chuckled lightly.

He groaned and whispered, "I thought I was your best friend."

"So did I," I said, standing up straight and walking away. "I guess not!" I yelled back at him.

I was halfway to the back door when there was a loud roar that filled the air and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I turned and saw the flying form of Wolverine above me, ready to land and sink his claws into me.

So he wanted to kill me too? All right, fine! But I wasn't going down without a fight. He _was_ going to pay for what he did to Mystique and the Brotherhood.

I clicked my lighter open and alight and summoned the flame to my hand. My anger fuel every move I made, so the flame grew to three times the size of my entire body and was about to engulf Wolverine as he fell but he suddenly stopped in midair.

"What the hell?" we both said.

"Not today, John.... Not today," said Magneto from my left as he lowered Wolverine to the ground. "The day will come when you'll get even and do Mystique justice by fulfilling the promise you made to her, but today is not that day. So just go inside and relax.... I'll take care of them...."

"But-!"

"Go. Go and enjoy what you did to the person who once proclaimed you his _best friend_," he said, smirking evilly and still holding a struggling Wolverine to the spot.

I stared at him for a second. He was serious. So I turned to Wolverine and said, "You were lucky today, Logan. But don't worry, I'll get you one day...and when that day comes...I promise to cherish it forever: The day that the big and strong Wolverine was taken down by an _insignificant firebug!_ "I turned away and began walking to the back door and into the house, muttering all the way about the things I'd do to him. I stopped only once to say to Rogue, "Tell him that he was never my best friend, never my _friend_, and that if he even considered me that, he'd never have come here...he'd have left me alone in _peace_," then I continued on and went to my room where I collapsed onto the bed and didn't move until Wanda came to my room to pull and all-nighter....

By the end of the night, I didn't even have the energy to pull my clothes back on or even move so I just stayed where I was and fell asleep.

Getting up the next morning was a task that I never want to do again.

End chapter five: Sorry it took so long. Damn you, writers' block! I hate you! Well, please leave a review as you leave and wait anxiously in your chair for the next chapter.... :-)

1, NY GE Pyromaniac


	6. Love Conquers All

nfmadprops04: Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Ronnie's Fan: Yeah, it just popped into my head while I was tryingt o get my little cousin to let me be (He wanted me to watch X2 with him...Nightcrawler scares him) and then what happened was I started just thinking what would happen if, just for one night, Fire and Water got together (cocks and eyebrow) hehehehehe. Well, I hope u enjoy this chappie! See ya! Don't forget to review! :-D

Crazy4horses: You and me both know how much it sux. But water helps. Lolz. Enjoy! Don't forget to review.

**Chapter six:_ Love Conquers All_**

A/N: I don't really remember how John and the others get the Legacy Virus but this is my version of how they got it, so if you know it's wrong, just to let you know, so do I and I promise that I will research it again someday and make a record of it. J Well, enjoy!

****

_**John's POV**_

"Are you fucking kidding me, John? Your fucking teacher? You gotta be kidding me!" yelled Wanda over the phone.

"Now isn't exactly a good time for this, Wanda," I said, taking the phone off of speaker phone as she began to yell and Pietro and Mags gave me funny looks.

"Well, John, there is _never_ gonna be a good time to tell your girlfriend that you slept with your fucking teacher, but you're gonna have to sooner or later!" she yelled even louder than before. So loud that even though I had the volume on three, Mags and Pietro were still giving me funny looks.

"Listen, I can't talk about this right now, I'm on a mission with your brother and pops. I need to be fully concentrated for this so I'll talk to you later."

"No, John. You know what? You can forget about this- _us_! You can forget it all because this is _inexcusable_ to me! We're through! Goodbye!"

"Fine! Be like that! I never need your prostituting ass anyway," I yelled back, angry at Wanda's words. Was she so sensitive that a one-night stand with a teacher that happened more than a year ago would upset her? I didn't even know her yet, so why was she so upset? "Bye!" I yelled and hung up, fuming.

I guess Magneto and Pietro had that 'I-never-get-involved-in-relationships-that-aren't-mine' thing going on because they looked ahead quickly and said nothing.

We were on our way to the Friends of Humans hideout down in East New York. We heard that they were having a meeting there to figure out how to wipe out the mutants in that neighborhood, so we decided to put a stop to that.

"C'mon, just a few more blocks. By the way, you two should be very careful when we get there."

"Father, with my speed, your gift of magnetism, and Pyro's flaring temper and temperatures we'll be fine," said Pietro.

I was trying hard to concentrate on what I was doing. I was now kind of in shock that it was over between Wanda and I after six months.

"That's what I'm afraid of. There are storage bins of toxic wastes there and I don't want you getting an incurable disease or something fatal, got that?" said Magneto stopping dead in front of so that we almost walked right into him.

Pietro nodded and then they both looked me with questioning looks while I stared at them blankly.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I got that," I said, shaking my head and pushing Wanda out of my head. "Yeah, I got that. C'mon, let's go. I wanna get home."

They nodded and we started walking again.

In a low voice, Pietro asked, "Why in such a hurry? Sounded like Wanda wanted nothing to do with you anymore so what the hell else _would_ you be doing at home?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"It means that you have no life!" he whispered. "All you ever did was fuck Wanda and now you can't even do that!" His voice had risen to its normal volume now and Magneto heard what he said, which was lucky because if he hadn't then he'd have had a good reason to punch the hell out of me for jumping at Pietro.

"Calm down, John. Calm down," he said, holding me back as Pietro stood a distance away, smirking.

I scowled at him and pushed away from Magneto saying, "Whatever," and walking on towards the hideout.

A few minutes later we were at this old garage/warehouse that had been abandoned years ago by the looks of it. In front were a couple of dumpsters, which we hid behind as a few muscular men walked by, holding firearms, one of them replacing an empty magazine with a new one and throwing the old one into the dumpster I was behind. It clanged loudly and I nearly jumped at the sound, causing Pietro to snigger. But one good foot stomping shut him up.

Once the men had passed and entered the garage, we stood up, made sure that there were no more cars coming up or down the two way street, and sidled along the cement wall towards the entrance. We stopped at the very edge of the wall to check if anyone was keeping guard. There was: a brawny, surly man armed with a chain wrapped around his right fist and a metal pipe in his left hand. Mags took him out with his own pipe and we walked right in, like we owned the place.

The place was covered in bins that were leaking, no joke, neon green fluids and a few of the bins near where a group of men stood conversing were smoking, and not normal looking smoke either.

"Pyro, Quicksilver, you two go right and I'll go left. We're gonna rush 'em, got it?"

We nodded and scowled at each other as we made our way to a huge pillar near the group of men. We hid behind it and listened to what they were saying.

"Hey, Joey, what was it that mutant kid said to you the other day?" asked a fully-grown man to a kid that look about twenty and some odd years old.

The kid spit on the ground, kicked the spot where he had spit and said, "He said he was gonna 'blast-me-a-new-one' if I didn't shut up about his little mutie sister," scowling.

"See? It's people like Joey who get the worst of these frickin' mutants! Joey, your mother still sick?"

"Yeah," said the kid putting on a face, which clearly said that he was trying to get them to feel sorry for him.

"Pops still broke and unemployed?"

Joey nodded and looked away, swallowing hard to make it look like he was going to cry.

"Little sister still…you know?"

"What, dying from AIDS? Yeah!" yelled Joey, a single tear dripping from each of his stormy gray eyes. "And those fucking mutants are laughing it up: Calling my mother a whore, my sister a fucking demon and my pops a bum!" he yelled to the rest of the men, who now all had sympathetic looks on their faces, a few of them were even crying.

One of them nodded and walked forward to hug Joey, saying, "I know how you feel, Joe. I know it all."

I pretended to gag and so did Pietro. Sniggering, we turned back to the scene and watched as the man who had hugged Joey asked the eldest of them, which was the one who had addressed Joey first, "But, Giovanni, how're we gonna fix this problem?"

Giovanni answered, "I'm glad you asked me that, Eric…." He stepped down from the milk crate he'd been standing on and, smiling broadly, said, "We're gonna kill 'em."

The other men stared at him open mouthed for a second before, sensing he was speaking truthfully, yelled in approval.

"Finally, we're gonna get what we lost back from these filth breeders!" yelled one man near a smoking bin.

"Yeah!" yelled another man, but now Pietro and I were looking above the man who was near the smoking bin.

Magneto was there, floating above him, and magnetically holding a bin of a neon orange waste. He jerked his head to his right (our left), signaling us to move from there and get ready to strike the ones who tried to run when he dropped the bin on them.

We nodded and jogged to our left a split second before we heard a, "Holy fucking shit!" and then a loud _bang!_

Mags had dropped the bin, spilling waste everywhere and on nearly everyone in the group, immediately beginning to blister their skin and then getting so hot that the blisters popped and their skin literally fell of in pieces. Those who weren't splashed with the chemical ran toward the exit we were blocking. The men who walked into the garage last were among them and once they saw us, they pulled out their guns and aimed at us.

I froze where I was for a second. If the men had shot at me, it would've been over for me because I had a flamethrower on my back and wires that were filled with fuel all around me. But they didn't have time to shoot at me because Magneto, acting quickly, pulled them by theirs guns to face the bins near where they had been standing. They shot and the bullets hit a couple of smoking bins, which exploded at the contact with the speeding bullets, causing a chain reaction with the rest of the bins.

We were being lifted by Magneto out of the garage when I, seeing the gas and waste flying and billowing in a waves everywhere, panicked and struggled freed of Magneto's strong _physical_ grip.

"**_NO!_**" he yelled and Pietro gave me a scared look as I hit the suddenly burning hot ground. I got to my feet quickly and looked at Magneto and Pietro's horrified faces.

On instinct I turned to face what they were looking at and then it happened in slow motion.

One last smoking bin exploded and a fresh wave of the gas billowed in its largest wave into my face. It smelled horrible, but that was the least of my worries because once I inhaled the gas, I felt weak and sick and so dizzy that I immediately hit the ground, no longer able to feel anything or see anything.

* * *

I awoke, hours later, in a bright room feeling horrible. My head ached, my stomach jolted every few seconds on its own for no reason at all, my arms lay weak beside me and my legs were throbbing like mad and were most likely the source of my headache. I could barely breath and every time I did, I inhaled the disgusting hospital smell and another familiar yet disgusting smell, but it was as though it wasn't there but only a memory of the smell.

"Look! He's awake!" yelled a loud voice, piercing the sound barrier.

"Shh! He'll have a headache now and any normal sounds sound like a banshee to him," said someone…a female.

I tried wiggling my fingers but they wouldn't move and I put all my will into just lifting them an inch or so off the bed I was laying on.

"You'll get your strength back completely in a few days or so but you'll have to work on it," said the same female voice.

I opened my eyes a little more and looked around me: There were shadows of people all around at first but then my vision focused and then I saw that it was only a female doctor, Magneto, Pietro and Toad.

"G'day, mates," I said wearily and smiling weakly.

They chuckled slightly but then gave me worried looks.

"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to sit up, but failing because my arms were still too weak.

Magneto shot me another worried look and then smiled and said, "Nothing at all. You just had an accident during the mission."

"Don't _lie_ to him!" shrieked the doctor, horrified that Magneto would do such a thing.

"Lie to me about what?"

"Nothing," said Pietro quickly and turning to the doctor menacingly.

"No! I won't accept any lies in my office. Nuh-uh! Tell him the truth or _I_ will!" she said, glaring at both Magneto and Pietro.

Toad was crouched on top of the hospital bed next to me and looking, interestedly, between Mags and Pietro, the doctor, and myself.

"Bloody fantastic!" he finally yelled into the deadly silence that had fallen between the other three. "'Ere's Pyro lyin' in a 'ospital bed, and you three are arguing over whether or not to tell 'im the truth! I personally think we should tell 'im, to save 'im the bloody torture of 'aving to find out later on when the affects finally kick in! I mean, don't you think 'e's suffered enough? Look at 'im! 'E's lyin' there all weak and unable to move…. Why would you let anyone suffer anymore 'annat?" he asked, hopping nimbly off the bed and next to me on the floor.

The doctor, Mags, and Pietro looked at him with shamed looks and then they all nodded.

I was way too confused to even ask what was happening. I guess the look on my face asked the question because the doctor walked over to my right and put a small hand on my shoulder and said, "Sweetie…" She trailed off and looked, sadly, at Magneto and Pietro.

Magneto and Pietro looked hesitantly at Toad, who nodded, and then Mags said, "You fell out of my grip at the garage and a bin exploded," he began obviously wanting to start off quickly so as to not delay anymore than he had to. "And then some of the gas…you inhaled some of the gas and passed out."

"So that's why I'm here?" I asked.

"Yeah, mate," said Toad softly, whom I suddenly remembered wasn't on the mission with us. Now that the picture was becoming clearer, I remembered most of what happened.

"Oh yeah, that happened and then…." I couldn't remember how I got here in the hospital.

"They brought you over here as soon as possible because you inhaled a lot of that gas."

"Yeah, so? Why didn't they just give me a respirator?" I asked, panicking now at the look of sadness on each of their faces.

They all looked at the doctor and she nodded saying, "Honey, that gas…it was toxic…. If a mutant inhales it…they…they get the Legacy Virus."

"Oh, that's it?"

They all looked taken aback by that statement.

"Why don't you just give me medicine and stop trying to scare the shit out of me." I chuckled. "Man, for a second there I thought I was as good as dead," I said and they all flinched slightly and went back to looking sad. "What?" I asked, feeling scared again. "Am…am I…am I gonna _die_?"

The doctor bit her lip and nodded slowly.

"What the fuck? Are you fucking serious? I'm really gonna fucking die?"

They all nodded and Toad said, "Mate, I'm sorry. I know it's a terrible shock and, believe me, I wish it were _me_ lyin' in that 'ospital bed instead of you. You're way too young to be worryin' 'bout 'ow much time you got to live." His shoulders were hunched and his head hung low in sadness and, even though he wouldn't dare look up to show it, he was holding back tears.

Toad and I had become like brothers over the last six months. Once he found out that I'd been born and raised in Australia and that I had to run away from there to live he warmed up to me instantly, figuring that because I'm also an Aussie he can relate to me. Honestly, sometimes I don't even understand what he meant by "_You and me, we're both Aussies and we understand each other more than the rest of them do_" because I didn't know whether he meant humans or other mutants. But I didn't care because he'd always watched out for me after that…never letting me get hurt.

I swallowed hard and nodded, then looked at the doctor. "What's the Legacy Virus?" I asked her, my voice cracking a little. Well, what do you expect? For me not to be scared? I'm going to die! I think I have the right to be scared as shit. My heart was beating so fast it hurt.

She swallowed hard too and said, "Legacy is an airborne viroid that only affects humans with an active X-factor in their genetic code (commonly referred to as mutants). The viroid prevents the body from producing healthy cells, acting like a fast cancer, and causes the victim to lose control of his mutant powers until he/she 'burns out' and dies."

"Oh…. So, I'm just gonna keep getting worse and worse until I literally just burn out?"

"Sadly, yes," she said.

"Will his mutation have an affect in how he – you know?" asked Magneto.

"Not that I've heard of so far. Each case of Legacy Virus that I've seen has been too short for me to even see how it ends. Luckily, we've caught yours before hand so we can study it with your permission."

"'Study it' just to study it or 'Study it' to try and find a cure?" he asked.

"Both," she said.

"Very well, then," said Mags.

"Wait a minute! What hell are you saying? I don't even know your name and you're getting ready to 'study' me!"

"My name is Moira MacTaggert, _Dr._ Moira MacTaggert," she said, straightening up proudly.

I was breathing heavily now and my vision was blurring again.

"And you're going to have to calm down before you pass out again," she said, pushing my head back onto the fluffy (hehehehehe) pillow and pulling a thermometer from her lab coat to take my temperature.

"I don't wanna-!" I began but she stuck the thermometer in my mouth.

"Now, just lay there for a few minutes while I prepare for note taking."

I spit the thermometer out and yelled, "Fuck you! I don't want to be studied by some doctor! Mags, don't let her do this! I wanna go home!"

"But don't you wanna find a cure for this so that maybe you can get cured and other mutants don't have to suffer?" he asked, sticking the thermometer back in my mouth.

I spit it back out, this time on the floor, and yelled, "No! I wanna go home! Let me go home! **_LET ME GO!_**" As I yelled this, I felt my blood boil to a point where _I_ couldn't even take it anymore so I yelled again and out of my hands, flames sprang forth toward Dr. Moira MacTaggert, who was rummaging through a steel wardrobe.

Magneto, who was always quick with his reflexes, shut the steel doors so fast that they pushed Dr. Moira MacTaggert inside the closet as they shut, protecting her from the flames.

The flames were hard to control. I'd tried hard to pull them back as usual but they wouldn't obey. I put all my heart into it and then they gave in to my control.

"Holy…_shit_," I said, my eyes wide with surprise and terror, as the steel doors smoked while Dr. MacTaggert opened them slowly, fearfully.

"What was that?" she asked slowly, stepping out of the closet, shaking.

"I…I dunno. I just got pissed off and…and then…they just shot out, the flames I mean. I've _never_ done that before. I _couldn't_ create fire…that was my _one_ handicap…. How did…how…_how_?"

She stared at me wide eyed and shaking her head. "I don't know. Maybe that's what happens with fire-based mutants? Maybe your temper caused your powers to merge with the virus' effects and enable you to create fire? Oh God!" she gasped.

"What?" asked everyone, now panicking.

"If that's the case, then… you'll burn out quicker and more painfully. You'll…die quicker."

I stared at her, thinking, _Man, if I hadn't have panicked…. Damn._

"Please, let me study this so that I can help you and other mutants. I know you don't want to die and I know that if you do die you don't want it to be painful, so _please_ put your fears and insecurities aside and _let me study you and your disease!_" she pleaded, eyes beginning to flood with tears.

I nodded stiffly, thinking once again, _if I hadn't have panicked…. Please let this ordeal pass me…. God, I don't want to die. Please don't let me die, God, _please!

"Thank you," she whispered. "I'll let you go for today, so that you can get whatever you need from home but then I need you back here by tomorrow night, okay?"

I nodded and tried moving again. It was easier to move now and my legs were still hurting like hell but I decided that I was strong enough to walk. I wasn't going to let this disease get me down. If I cooperated with the doctor then maybe I didn't have to die…_maybe I didn't have to die_.

The doctor went to get my clothes from the closet in the next room while Mags and toad helped me out of bed. Pietro just leaned against the wall, staring blankly at my IV bag.

When the doctor gave my clothes, I dressed quickly and as I left the room she reminded me, "Remember, _tomorrow night_."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll remember."

On the drive home, no one said anything, and the radio (which usually blared rock, rap, r&b, and hip hop) remained off. It sounded as though I was already dead…. Not even _Pietro_, the most annoying and loudest of the Brotherhood, said anything…but I wished he would, so at least I could feel normal instead of having this boulder tied around my neck to reminding me that I'm dying…_all because I panicked_.

When we got home, I got out of the car and walked up the bricked courtyard to the front doors and walked in, ignoring the glare that Wanda shot at me as soon as I walked in.

_ I wonder if she knows…. _

I went straight to my room and plopped down in the bed to stare at the ceiling.

Silence rang in the air around me and hurt my ears. Why wouldn't it stop? Why couldn't I just go deaf for at least an hour?

_ Because that's not what you want,_ said my mind. _You want someone to just say it out loud:_ St. John Allerdyce a.k.a. Pyro is dying of the Legacy Virus and there's nothing you can do about it.

"No, because there _is_ something I can do. I'm getting help from Dr. MacTaggert at this time tomorrow."

_ But do _really_ think that'll work?_

I sighed in defeat and continued starting at the ceiling. "Why can't someone just come here and kill me now?" I asked aloud, not noticing the slowly opening door.

"Talking to yourself, now?" asked Wanda's voice from the threshold.

I faced her and nodded slowly. "Come to yell some more?"

She bit her lip and a single tear dripped form her honey colored eyes. "Father just told me what happened…." She looked at me with brimming eyes and then suddenly ran over to the bed and threw her arms around me, as she broke down crying. "Oh, John, I'm so sorry! I can't believe this is happening." She wiped the tears away and then brought her right hand to caress my left cheek. "I can't believe I'm going to lose you."

"What happened to us being over?" I asked semi-bitterly.

She bit her lip again and said, "I know I said that, John, but I was angry. I mean, how could you not tell me that you slept with your teacher?"

"I told you already that you didn't want to know. Remember? Six months ago in the pizzeria, you asked me what was the most romantic thing I've ever experienced with a woman and I told you that didn't want know but you said you'd find out sooner or later…. Well, you found out and now I'm guessing you wish you hadn't?"

She nodded sheepishly and then looked up into my eyes and leaned in to kiss me.

It was a heartfelt, passionate kiss that clearly said she was sorry for what she did and said and that she wanted me back.

But a question was buzzing in the back of my head as she continued kissing me and I kissed back. _Was the disease contagious?_

"Mmmm." She pushed me back onto my pillows, gently, and began undoing her zipped up tube top.

_ I'll ask the doctor tomorrow_, I thought as she exposed her body.

The night went as you're probably thinking and the next day, when I woke up, I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. But I couldn't tell if it was because I threw up as soon as I got into the bathroom or because I may have just given Wanda the disease.

I observed myself in the bathroom mirror: I was sort of pale and my eyes were losing their color as well. My blood was boiling still and wouldn't cool off even when I jumped into the freezing shower.

_ I hope she can help me._

"G'morning," I said to a waking Wanda as I dressed and hour later.

"Good Morning," she said sleepily. She yawned and got up to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey! What happened to the tongue action?" I asked in a mock upset voice.

She made a tooth brushing movement and I nodded eagerly, smirking.

After she dressed, she jumped on the bed next to as I read a book Magneto had gotten me to read up on the Holocaust and said, "It's funny how love conquers all."

_ It doesn't conquer death…. Shut up!_

I smiled and kissed her.

End of Chapter! Leave a review as you leave, please. Thank you! J

1, NY GE Pyromaniac

****


	7. Studies and the Xmen

Whoa! It's been a while, I know. Sorry I haven't written in a while but school has kept me so busy and what not. Anyway, here's Ch. 7. Hope you enjoy it. Oh, and thanks to everyone for the reviews.

**Chapter seven: _Studies and the X-men_**

_**John's POV**_

Fear flooded me completely as Dr. MacTaggert walked towards me and opened the needle pack she held in her hands.

"Now, I'm going to take a blood sample of yours and examine it. If all goes as I planned, then this might be the only day you need to spend here," she said, rubbing my forearm with rubbing alcohol on the spot she planned to penetrate.

"Huh? What happened to me staying here so that you can study me?" I asked, noticing how young and good-looking she was…but she had nothing on Wanda.

She smiled at me, her bright-green eyes shining, and said, "It wasn't so long ago that I was in the same age category as you are, John. I'm only twenty-six years old so I remember what it feels like to want so bad to be out and about but instead you're stuck (not necessarily) in a hospital."

"But, what about, you know, the physical stuff? Like what happens with my organs and stuff like that?"

"Well, I'll call you in every week for a just a few minutes to see how you're doing and to get new blood samples to see what I can do for you," she said, aiming the needle to the vein in my arm. "You know a lot about what doctors have to do with patients in your position or in positions similar to yours…. Did you study to be a doctor in college?"

"Nope, never even graduated elementary and I'm not even old enough for college."

"Then how do you know so much?" she asked, puncturing me and pulling back the pump of the needle to take in the blood.

I flinched slightly (I always hated needles and the sight of my own blood) and said, "When I was younger, back in Australia, I had to do so many hours of community service in a hospital that I was practically working there full time. So, I'd spend each day helping the chemotherapy doctors prep the patients for their treatment and they'd let me stay for the "organ screenings"…. It was sickening at times. So many people, people with and without cancer but another illness, had such messed up livers, hearts, kidneys and junk…. Gees, I feel sorry for you. You probably have to see that all the time."

She nodded sadly and looked down at the needle, whose tube was filling with my dark red blood. "After a while you get used to it and the feeling of wanting to cry for that person goes away because you realize that the last thing that that person needs is someone else being weak around them when they're trying to be strong," she said as she pulled the needle, tube finally full, out of my arm and pressed an alcohol soaked cotton ball onto the puncture. "You also realize that sometimes, no matter what your past experiences, you can't save that person's life," she said walking to the test tube holder and placing the needle's tube in the rack after labeling it with _Allerdyce._

"Then how come you were near tears when you told me I was going to die?" I asked, staring at her in a straight-backed position as she picked up a form.

She turned and said, "Because it's not fair that you, such a young person (obviously younger than I thought), might have to lose your life to a disease that affects only your kind." She handed me the form and said, "It's not fair that you can't live your life to it's fullest, especially after such a crappy life (no offence), because you have to stay here and get treated…. _It's not fair_."

Her lower lip was trembling and her eyes were flooding, once again, with tears.

"Yeah…." I took her hand in mine and pulled her closer to me and smiled. "I know you'll be able to help me…. I can _feel_ it."

She nodded and handed me the form and said, "Hand this to the receptionist out there and she'll see to it that your visits from now on are free."

"Okay," I said, smiling. I hopped off of the table and walked out and did as she told me. The receptionist looked up at me, raised her eyebrows in an approving way and said loudly, "Moira, isn't he kind of young?"

"Shut the hell up!" came Dr. MacTaggert's voice from inside her office.

The receptionist smiled again and said, "Okay, sugar, you're all set," as she finished stamping a series of papers with 'Approved'.

I smiled back and then remembered that I needed to ask Dr. MacTaggert the question that had been bugging me since dawn. I walked back into her office and caught her by surprise as she turned around.

"Oh, my. You scared me. What's wrong, honey?"

"Um, I was wondering…is this disease contagious? You know, can I, uh, do the things I usually do and not worry about infecting anyone?"

She smirked and asked, "Do you mean can you have sex without worrying about infecting anyone?"

I nodded, smirking too.

"Well, I'm not really sure at the moment but I'll have the answer by next week."

"Okay," I said, smirking and then I walked out of her office and clinic.

When I got home, everyone gave me this sort of forced smile and then said, "Hi."

There's nothing that can bring your spirits down worse than that. I appreciated the fact that they were trying to stay calm and not mention my inevitable death but for some reason the way they did it made me prefer them walking around telling me I'm going to die. I smiled back at them and waved a 'later' to them before heading for my room.

For a few minutes I just sat on the edge of my bed, staring blankly at the floor and then, deciding that I shouldn't act as though I were already dead, I got up and walked onto the porch on the courtyard and then I walked out onto the courtyard.

A lot of things were on my mind, but the most prominent thing at the moment was the fact that I'd created fire. I didn't know how I did it, but I did know I did it. All the way to and from Dr. MacTaggert's office I'd tried it again and nothing happened. Looking at my hands, I wondered, _let me try again._

I concentrated on the heat coursing through me and the little bursts of nearly unbearable heat that kept coming on me every now and then and tried making fire burst from my hands again, but nothing happened. I sucked my teeth and gave up, starting to walk around the courtyard in thought.

_It probably only works when I feel trapped or something…. This is so fucked up. I was supposed to prove to the X-Men – mostly the Professor – that I could take care of myself and look what happens. Man, when they find out, they're gonna have a fucking ball…. I'd better get better soon. I still need to kill Wolverine for killing Mystique and if he thinks he's getting away with that, he needs to wake up from his little dream world…. I hope she can help me out here. I hope Dr. MacTaggert knows what she's doing. _

From the far end courtyard you could see a small part of the cemetery across the road – the really crappy part where no pays to have the grass cut or flowers put there. I walked over to the wrought iron gate that blocked me form the road and stared at this little girl who was winding through the unkempt, uncut grass that was past her knees to a grave spot that had been marked with only two wooden steaks that had been put together to form a cross. She almost fell a couple of times but always regained her balance, though it seemed she didn't care if she fell or not as long as the tattered old book in her hands was okay. As she stood in front of the grave spot, she spoke too softly for me to hear what she was saying, but I knew it must've been extremely painful to say because she was crying her eyes out by the third word. When she finished with her little monologue, she wiped her eyes and laid the tattered old book against the grave marker. The book must've belonged to the dead person because after she did that, she made her way back through the grass to the road and met my eyes briefly.

She looked slightly terrified for a minute then she got this piteous look on her face before casting a sad glance back at the grave she just visited and then looked back at me, a single tear rolling down her cheek. She shook her head as though pitying me for something and then took off down the road.

I just stood there for a minute in confusion, not knowing why she gave me those looks and then decided that I didn't care. I walked back into my room and lay on the bed. I stared at the ceiling for a while, feeling really tired and finally, after a battle with my mind, fell asleep.

_THE NEXT WEEK_

"Did you use a condom?" asked Dr. MacTaggert, pulling on latex gloves and prepping me for tests.

"No, that's why I came to you. So is it transmittable?"

"You should always wear a condom, disease or no," she lectured, pushing me down onto the table and pulling a big machine from the ceiling to hang over me. "I'll check the results in a minute. I got them back just today so I don't know yet."

I was worried because Wanda had become mysteriously ill and I wanted to know whether or not she had the Legacy Virus now.

Dr. MacTaggert took my X-rays and did some other tests to see how my organs were doing. "Fine," she said. "Just keep taking the antibiotics I gave you…. Now, concerning the matter of your girlfriend's health…. I'm sorry, John, …it looks like you might have infected her. The disease, as the results show, is highly contagious…. Due to the disease's contagiousness, you'll have to be quarantined in a sterile room here in the hospital and kept away from anyone who's not infected."

My stomach felt as if a brick had been dropped in there. _Quarantined_? I was never going to see anyone again. "But if I get cured I can leave, right?" I asked, coming to my senses.

She bit her lip and even though she nodded I knew that she thought I wasn't ever going to be cured.

I stared at her for a minute, suddenly not caring if I died as long as Wanda was okay and Wolverine died.

She got this really soft look on her delicate features and stepped closer to me and soon had her arms around me, and her lips on mine.

"Dr., I - "

She said, "Shh! Don't say anything. Just go along with it. Think of it as your last meal, but instead of a meal you get me."

I didn't know if she was suicidal or something but I couldn't let her do this to herself, so I tried to pull away from her and only succeeded in feeling bad when she gave me a confused look so I continued kissing her.

The door to the room had been closed already so there was no need to worry about anyone interrupting us as the table creaked and squeaked.

All the while I had an enormous guilty feeling in the pit of my stomach as I thought of how this was going to kill her and how I had just betrayed Wanda. But the guilt wasn't enough to stop me - or her for that matter and we just kept going at it. By the time we'd finished, it was night already and she told me that I could go and say my goodbyes.

I dressed and left. Not ten seconds after I stepped out of the mechanical doors of the hospital had I been accosted by Wolverine, Rogue, Professor X and… Jean.

"I'm no longer the weak force you knew as Jean Grey, Jonathan. I am Phoenix," she said, most likely reading my mind.

I nodded, opened mouthed and then snapped my attention to the Professor and Wolverine. "What do you want? Come to say farewell or say that you told me I couldn't take care of myself?"

"What're you talking about, John?" asked Rogue, a confused look on her face.

I knew the Professor had to have known about my disease by now, but for some reason he hadn't told Rogue…. The coward. I wasn't going to be the one to tell them when I was only face to face with them because they came to me. They could find out for themselves. I shook my head and said, "Nothing. What do you want?"

"To ask you to come home," said the Professor with the air of acting as though he hadn't noticed Rogue's confused silence.

I sucked my teeth and shook my head as I just walked passed them.

"Hey, kid! Have some respect for the Professor!" yelled Wolverine as he grabbed me by my shoulders and spun me around to face him roughly.

That must've been the push I needed to create fire because in a split second I was readying a flamed fist that was meant for his face.

"Holy shit!" he yelled, surprised that I could now create fire.

He extracted his claws and slashed at me a few times, missing each time, before I punched him in his stomach with my fiery fist. His uniform was obviously not fire resistant because it instantly caught fire. Wolverine, Rogue and Jean soon had the fire patted out and Wolverine turned to me, anger burning in his eyes.

I felt like I was ready to take on anything at the moment, but then a suddenly wave of weakness came over me, causing me to be unable to defend myself against Wolverine's stabs. Soon I was a bloody mess on the ground and paramedics were rushing to me.

_Hadn't they tried to stop the fight? Maybe they did and we didn't hear them. _

As they carried me away on a stretcher, I saw Wolverine do a disgusting thing: he licked my blood off of his claws in a menacing way, smirking all the while.

I smirked back and I could tell he didn't understand why I was smirking so I pulled up as much strength as I could and said, "You're gonna die!" I laughed my head off all the way to the emergency room until I passed out into a peaceful darkness.

_Good. Maybe I'll die painlessly…well, …almost painlessly. _


	8. Journal Entries

**Chapter eight:_ Journal Entries_**

**_Journal Entry One:_**

_I don't know what day it is as you can see by the fact that there's no date, and I don't want to know. I just woke up today in a bright ass hospital room in a bed across from Wolverine. He's staring at me as I write this. He looks pissed. I must've done something to him. Well, whatever I did, it wasn't enough because he's not dead! Maybe I burned him bad enough to make the doctors think he'll have to stay a few days in here. Hehehehehe! He deserves to be stuck in a hospital like me for what he did to Mystique. Hopefully in the process of sticking with a bunch of needles to keep him stable after I burned him they stuck him with something that'll turn off his X gene. He's still looking at me with that deadly glare. Why? He's going to heal from the burns, so why is he staring at me like that? _

_Looks like I'll have to answer that later. Mags, Pietro, Wanda, Toad, Sabertooth, Avalanche, and Blob just walked in along with the X-Men. _

_ Later,_

_ John_

**_Journal Entry Two:_**

_Still don't know what day it is, but I'm keeping track by counting how many days pass form the day I woke up in the room with Wolverine. Magneto almost told me what day it was yesterday, but I stopped him just in time. Anyway, I found out why Wolverine was in the hospital room with me and why he kept glaring at me: _he has the Legacy Virus…just like me_. He got it when he licked my blood off of his claws. I also fond out that Wanda had gotten worse and that she was going to have to stay here with Wolverine and me. Mags, who I thought was going to be pissed was not. He actually just accepted my apology for getting his daughter sick and said that I should get some rest. Before everyone left, the X-Men gave me the meanest glares and then Bobby, who was still going through skin grafting, gave me the finger. I flipped it back a few times and when he left I flipped it again. Now I'm just sitting here, waiting for the nurse who always brings me my food so that I can annoy the hell out of her by just picking at my food and telling her it's disgusting and to bring me some cookies and milk. Until the nurse comes, I think I'll tell you about a miracle. I survived being stabbed by Wolverine! I honestly thought I was going to die because of my weakened state because of the disease but I didn't and that's a miracle. _

_Uh-oh! Wolverine was just brought in from his examinations and he's giving me that glare again. I'm not sure if his healing factor is gone or something but in the last two days he's grown very old and wrinkly and ugly. Maybe it is gone. Good. At least he going to die and suffer for what he did to Mystique…. _

_Okay, here's my nurse with my food – chicken today – so I have to go. _

_ Later, _

_ John _

**_Journal Entry Three:_**(Three weeks after last entry)

_Hey, sorry I haven't written in you in a while. Look at me; I'm talking to a book. Anyways, I haven't been able to write because of constant examinations done on me and the after affects of the drugs…they put me to sleep _really_ fast. I should tell you what's happened so that just incase I die (I know I will), you'll be able to tell the world exactly what had happened to me and see if these quacks they call doctors are doing something wrong. For the last three weeks, it's been the same exact tests over and over again: a test to see how the disease is progressing, a test to see how my organs are doing and a test to see what can help with the disease. The results always come back worse and worse. _

_Whatever, onto another subject. It's official; Wolverine's healing factor is gone and Dr. MacTaggert was the one to tell me…. She says she doesn't think she's infected, but she'll do tests anyway. Wolverine is getting older and looking more like his real age everyday. He told me his real day one day at the institute when we were both drunk off our asses and I was still cool with him. But that was a long time ago…. I'd tell you his age, but I promised him that I'd never tell anyone and I _always_ keep my promises…whether they're made with friends or mortal enemies. _

_He's staring at me right now. He spends much of his time doing that. He hates me and he'd kill me if he could but the doctors won't allow him to extract his claws because it takes too much energy and they don't want to be bothered with having to take care of some mutants, so he can't kill me…. He wouldn't be able to kill me even if they'd let him extract his claws because he's so old and brittle and weak…. I kind of feel sorry for him; he looks weaker than the professor does in that chair of his…. It makes me fear aging…not that I have to worry about that anymore. _

_Wanda is dying faster than the rest of us…. The doctors can't figure out why, but she is and I want to apologize for doing this to her, but she won't let me even say a single word to he before she goes on about me being irresponsible and how I should've watched out for her. After a few days I just stopped trying and didn't even talk to her anymore until Dr. MacTaggert came up to me in her idiocy and told me that she too was infected…. Wanda flipped! She went on for hours, yelling and screaming at me. I'd stopped caring completely by then and just ignored her. _

_Right now, she's glaring at me as I write this and being scorned by her nurse for not eating. I laughed just now and she flipped me the birdie. _

_Nice. _

_Well, here comes Mags with our crew to visit so I'll see you. _

_ Later, _

_ John _

**_Journal Entry Four:_** (A month after last entry)

_So many things have happened since last time…. They stopped testing us to see if they can cure us, but kept going with the other two tests…. Every day that passes is worse than the last. My flesh…God! It's burned and it has rashes and some of it is falling off. It's disgusting, I know. It's painful, too. Everyday my temperature gets higher and higher and sometimes it even gets too hot even for me. Sometime I set myself on fire and the doctors have to put me out and afterwards it hurts so much. _

_Wanda and Wolverine keep glancing at me as though waiting for the moment I die. It sucks, but I can understand how they feel. I'm waiting for them to die too. Wolverine is shriveled up and is more likely to die of age before he dies from the Legacy Virus. Wanda is causing things to get hexed all over and now she need to be wearing this thing they call a Genosha Collar to shut her powers off so she won't hurt anyone and that's killing her too. Her flesh is also rotting and not eating isn't helping…. Dr. MacTaggert, a human, died a few weeks ago…. Her immune system wasn't string enough to take it so she just died. _

_At the moment it's very painful and tiring for me to be writing and I know I'm going to die any minute now so I'll be writing less and less…. _

_I guess the proper thing to do now is say goodbye. _

_Goodbye, …everyone who was there for me…everyone I loved: Wanda…The Brotherhood… and everyone who cared…. Goodbye. _

_I can feel death sucking the energy out of me, causing me want to end this entry quickly…. I have one more thing to say: It's pathetic how a teenager has to have his life ended by a disease that he would've never gotten if he had never had panicked or done any of the stupid things he's done. It _really_ is. All I can say now is I'm sorry for that and I wish I'd have done better or made something of myself before this minute…. That's it…. I'm done…. Goodbye. _

_ Goodbye, _

_ Joh – _

_**Third Person's POV**_

John's hand fell limp upon his journal and Wolverine and Wanda watched as his body gave up and burned out. They were, in a small way, sad and were going to miss him a little. Soon, a few minutes later, it was there time.

The doctors came in soon after Wanda's body gave up and marked it their time of death. They thought them all pathetic for dying in such a way and for being angry with each other all the way up until their last minutes when they should've made the best of them, like civilized people. But no, they chose not to, but instead choseto hold grudges and die with them…miserable…and alone…and pathetic.

**_End _**


End file.
